Wall Street Journal notices Kalamazoo author

When Jaimy Gordon's fourth novel, "Lord of Misrule," was chosen as one of five works nominated for a National Book Award in fiction, it was a spectacular moment for an author who has been writing for decades, reports the Wall Street Journal.

But for the small literary house McPherson & Co. in Kingston, N.Y., the nomination represents a quandary: how many copies should it publish? The publishing house normally prints 2,000 copies of a new book. When Barnes & Noble alone wanted that many McPherson decided to print 8,000.

Excerpt:

Author Andrei Codrescu, one of the fiction judges, ... said he has long been an admirer of her work, describing Ms. Gordon as "an underrated great writer who hasn't been talked about very much, partially, I think, because she's shy and doesn't self-market herself. But she has an incredible command of other voices, and a sense of music in language that is unequaled."

This is the second year in a row for a National Book Award nomination to go to a Kalamazoo author. Bonnie Jo Campbell's "American Salvage" took a nomination in 2009.

To find out more about Gordon's book and the publisher's dilemma, read the rest of the story.

Source: Wall Street Journal